In this week's Hardwood Knocks mailbag, you, our loyal listeners, give us plenty of material with which to work. Your questions were fantastic, and they allowed us to tackle each of the following, among many other queries:

Will the Philadelphia 76ers' sign a big-time free agent this summer now that Robert Covington and Joel Embiid have their extensions? Should they be in LeBron James-or-bust mode? Who else could they chase?

Where does Dennis Smith Jr. rank among the NBA's best teenagers ever? And, perhaps more importantly, where do the rebuilding Dallas Mavericks go from here?

What's up with the NBA-best Boston Celtics? Is their first-place defense sustainable? Is Kyrie Irving actually a good defender now? Is Brad Stevens an alien? Can they end the Cleveland Cavaliers' Eastern Conference reign? And if not them, then which teams can?

Should Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford be on the hot seat? Would the team consider tearing it down to the studs if things get really bad, perhaps even testing the trade market for 2019 free-agent Kemba Walker?

Which squad's top-five defense is more sustainable: Portland Trail Blazers or Los Angeles Lakers? How many threes are the Houston Rockets shooting? Is Spencer Dinwiddie the greatest player of all time, or is he just better than D'Angelo Russell?

Y'all: Here's the mail. It never fails. It makes us wanna wag our tails. When it comes, we wanna wail MAAAAAIIIIIL!

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